Marijuana Issues

**Summary:** As marijuana becomes more legal, concerns arise about its use and regulation. While generally considered safe with medicinal value, key issues include unclear limits for safe operation of vehicles, workplace policies, dosage standards for edibles, interactions with other substances, and defining toxic levels. The DSM-5 provides guidelines for cannabis use disorders, but symptoms remain subjective:

Preventing marijuana addiction and addressing its treatment remain unresolved issues, partly due to a lack of regulation and accountability. There is no established “standard of care” for marijuana use, and the DEA continues to classify it as a Schedule I substance, limiting progress in this area.

Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Some examples of Schedule I drugs are: heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote

–DEA

Marijuana remains a Schedule I drug, leading to challenges such as employment discrimination, limited research, and ongoing political and industrial resistance to legalization. Despite these barriers, state-level legalization is driving change and could pave the way for federal legalization, enabling better research and understanding of its risks and benefits. Reform is hindered by powerful industries and inconsistent laws, but continued advocacy and voting for legalization are essential to address these issues. Medicinal marijuana is also becoming more favorable since it’s used to treat several conditions such as:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Appetite loss
• Cancer
• Crohn’s disease
• Eating disorders such as anorexia
• Epilepsy
• Glaucoma
• Mental health conditions like schizophrenia and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Multiple sclerosis
• Muscle spasms
• Nausea
• Pain
• Wasting syndrome (cachexia)

-Web MD

How to Deal with THC Addictions? 

Currently, a marijuana addiction is not taken seriously and it’s going to get worse with no real solution in sight. “The current use of cannabis for mental health conditions departs from the traditional paradigm of prescribed medications for clinical practice in 2 specific areas. First, doctors cannot base their treatment plans on high-quality clinical trials. Second, doctors cannot reliably restrict access to cannabis as it is easily accessed through either legal or illegal avenues. As a result, many practitioners can find encounters with patients identifying as therapeutic cannabis users to be awkward and anxiety producing.”

-Psychiatric Times

6 Observations for Clinicians to be Aware of

1. Therapeutic cannabis use should be restricted to adults. Substantial evidence associates cannabis use with the development of schizophrenia or other psychoses: risk is highest among the most frequent users and those who begin use at a young age. Moreover, initiating cannabis use at an earlier age increases the risk of cannabis use disorder and overdose.
2. Cannabis use increases the risk of vehicular accidents.
3. Cannabis use impairs learning, memory, and attention. Frequent users of cannabis may experience these deficits for a considerable part of daily life. Tolerance may attenuate these deficits, which appear to resolve the following abstinence.
4. Maternal cannabis use during pregnancy is associated with a lower birth weight of an infant.
5. Smoking cannabis worsens respiratory symptoms and increases chronic bronchitis episodes
6. Providers must be vigilant in assessing for worsening mental health attributable to cannabis use. Recreational cannabis users have a small increased risk of depression, suicide, and social anxiety. Furthermore, cannabis use can increase symptoms of mania and hypomania in recreational cannabis users who have bipolar disorder.

–Psychiatric Times

Some Marijuana Statistics

To understand the gravity of the situation, statistical information is very helpful even if it’s underreported:

• According to the United Nations, 158.8 million people around the world use marijuana—more than 3.8% of the planet’s population.
• Over 94 million people in the US have admitted using it at least once.
• According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2.1 million people in the US abused marijuana for the first time that year.
• US marijuana users spent approximately $10.5 billion on the drug in the year 2000.
• In 2005, 242,200 emergency room visits in the United States involved marijuana.
• Next to alcohol, marijuana is the second most frequently found substance in the bodies of drivers involved in fatal automobile accidents.

-Drug-Free World

In Conclusion

While research and funding for marijuana are growing, the lack of formal regulations poses challenges for providers and society. Therapeutic cannabis use in mental health remains uncertain, with limited clinical trial support. Reporting and treating symptoms as needed is crucial. Although full legalization may take time, progress is better than inaction.